1992 Norwin grad brings nostalgia to former classmates during quarantine
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Kevin Tomich was an avid photographer and videographer while he was a student at Norwin High School in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, a time when cell phones weren’t available to snap quick flicks.
Tomich, now 46, owned a large VHS camcorder — a coveted and rare possession at the time — which cost more than $1,000. With this camcorder, Tomich recorded countless Norwin events — football games, homecoming dances and parades.
It was snippets from this footage that Tomich shared to the Norwin Class of 1992 Facebook group. He believes he’s shared around 40 videos and hundreds of photos over the years.
But with his new-found time in quarantine, Tomich decided to take the memories one step further.
“I was questioning everything during quarantine and I started to look back on myself and what shaped me to be where I am today,” Tomich said. “You’re born (as) clay and you need hands to sculpt you.”
He said that children are sculpted through their family, friends, beliefs and teachers, especially.
Tomich, who now lives in State College, decided to create a video thanking some of the teachers, calling it “Norwin: Then-Now-Forever.” After requests to add more, the video quickly turned into a series of three thanking 74 teachers.
“I wanted to do something to remember them,” Tomich said.
Tomich said he found the photos of the teachers by digging through Facebook pages. A number of the teachers featured are now deceased, but “it was a good way to honor their memory.”
“(The videos) helped people get their minds off of the heaviness in the world and back to more wholesome fun,” Tomich said. “(The nostalgia) served as a distraction and a light in the darkness.”
Initially, he only shared the videos to the Norwin Class of 1992 Facebook group of about 300 people, but he noticed that people began to share it on other pages. Eventually, graduates from other Norwin Facebook groups and some of the teachers began to message him expressing their thanks.
“People call me the curator of Norwin 1992,” Tomich said. “I kept everything (in many boxes) and can share it quickly if people request.”
Mike Daugherty is an administrator of the Norwin Class of 1991 Facebook group and has known Tomich for 35 years.
Daugherty, 47, lives in Flower Mound, Texas, and shares Tomich’s videos on Facebook.
Tomich noticed that many people began posting and commenting about various activities they used to enjoy growing up.
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Some of the more prominent memories discussed were going to buy toys and snacks at Hill’s (the old-school version of Walmart), eating at the fast-food, roast beef joint, Rax, roller skating at Norwin Skateland and playing arcade games at the Game Room in Norwin Hills Plaza after seeing a movie.
“On Friday nights, you’d go up and see a movie and go over to the Game Room or Rax,” Tomich said. “Then you’d have to call on the pay phone for your parents to come pick you up.”
Tomich decided to create a survey for his former classmates to find out what their favorite stores, restaurants and hangouts were. He will be posting it to Facebook soon.
“It’s more of a walk down memory lane instead of a survey,” Tomich said. “I’m just trying to stir up nostalgia because our next mini-reunion is this November and people don’t have things to do now (in quarantine).”
Another project includes profiling two specific teachers at Norwin – Bill DeMore and his daughter, Connie DeMore.
Together, they have served Norwin for more than 60 years, according to Tomich.
“I felt like they deserved their own video,” Tomich said. “This is my first specialized video.”
He will be releasing it on Facebook soon along with the survey.
Links to the three parts of Tomich’s “Norwin: Then-Now-Forever” video series can be found on the Norwin Class of 1991 Facebook page.